Gerudo

Nabooru, a member of the Gerudo Tribe.
Gerudo
Type	Human (Hylian)
Debut	The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Gerudo are a race of humans consisting only of women that appear in several installments of the The Legend of Zelda series. The Gerudo are known to give birth to only one male every century, with the only known example of this being the series' main villain, Ganondorf.

Information

The Gerudo race consists purely of women, all of whom have red hair and tan skin. They are also usually very tall and physically capable. It is said that one Gerudo male is born every hundred years. He is appointed king and revered by other Gerudo. Even though they worship their king, the Gerudo seem to look down upon other men and reject most outsiders. Regardless, they have been known to travel into other towns to seek out men to procreate with, and some of them are less harsh than others. They can even maintain genuine relationships with the people they seek out. Most Gerudos are experienced warriors who train to skillfully wield scimitars and other bladed weapons in battle. The Gerudo have been known to work primarily as thieves. This may be due to the harsh life that they seem to live in the desert. Some Gerudo also have exhibited powerful magical talent: in particular Ganondorf and the two elderly witches who raised him, Twinrova.

In Breath of the Wild, they were shown to revere and raise creatures known as sand seals. These sand seals were used for racing and for fortune telling, with sand seal races being considered to be a proud Gerudo tradition. There were also a number of statues commemorating past Gerudo heroines around the desert: a series of statues known as the Silent Swordswomen and a circle of gigantic statues called The Seven Heroines, that were all associated with different attributes. There was also known to have been an Eighth Heroine who was erased from Gerudo history for unknown reasons, with her statue being hidden among the nearby mountains. Tears of the Kingdom later revealed that the eighth heroine was actually a male hero who convinced the seven heroines to work together instead of separately and was honored for that. It was also mentioned that some Gerudo were open to the idea of repealing the law banning men, but younger Gerudos preferred the law, because it gave them a reason to leave town and explore the outside world.

The childhood of a Gerudo born outside a Gerudo settlement was shown in Tears of the Kingdom through the character of Mattison. She was allowed to live with her parents for part of her childhood, but she was also being prepared for life in Gerudo Village throughout that time period. Once she reached a certain age, she had to leave her parents to be raised back at the Gerudo Village and would not be allowed to see men including her father until she was older.

Language

The Gerudo have been shown to have a written language since Ocarina of Time, but words from their spoken language was introduced in Breath of the Wild. Several words, terms and phrases were shown within the game.

• Greetings/Farewells - "Sav'otta", "Sav'aaq", "Sav'saaba" and "Sav'orr" respectively mean "Good morning," "good afternoon", "good evening" and "good night". "Vaasaq" is a general greeting, and "Sav'orq" is used to say farewell.
• Expressions - "Sarsquo" means "thank you", and "Sav'oten" means "good heavens".
• Terms - "Vai" and "Voe" are words used to refer to females and males, respectively. Children are known as "Vehvi", and birds are referred to as "Vure". One's grandmother is "Vaba".

Appearances

Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, they lived in a part of the desert called the Gerudo Valley. There they had their own fortress, training ground and horseback archery range, as the Gerudo people respected those who were skilled at horseback riding and archery. They offered Ice Arrows to those who could pass the trials of the Gerudo Training Grounds. The Gerudos also worshiped at the Spirit Temple located in the Desert Colossus. Their king was Ganondorf, who had been raised by Twinrova and who led the Gerudos to perform more cruel acts. While Gerudos usually stole primarily from men, Ganondorf targeted women and children as well. Nabooru refused to bow to him and attempted a rebellion, but Twinrova captured her and brainwashed her to serve as an Iron Knuckle enforcer. It was implied through their models (as zooming into Iron Knuckles' masks from the right angle revealed unique Gerudo faces underneath) that the same fate befell other Gerudos.

Ganondorf conquered Hyrule and ruled it for seven years, and the brainwashed Nabooru was his puppet of a second-in-command. During this time, the Gerudos destroyed the bridge back to Hyrule. Four of Mutoh's carpenters came to their fortress and wanted to join the thieves, but the Gerudo did not want to even humor them and locked them away. Link managed to sneak in and save them all, fighting several Gerudos in the process. The Gerudo in charge there was impressed enough with his skills that she gave him a membership card, emphasizing that she never had expected to be impressed with any man who was not Ganondorf. Link was also able to rescue Nabooru at the Spirit Temple, at which point she was awakened as the Spirit Sage and became the Gerudo representative among the sages. Following Ganondorf's downfall, several Gerudo were seen attending the festivities at Lon Lon Ranch, despite their prior support of Ganondorf.

Majora's Mask

In Termina, the Gerudos instead lived as pirates operating out of a fortress located at the Great Bay. Little is known about their culture and how it compared with Hyrule's Gerudos, but they did seem to be more straightforwardly ruthless. Within the game, the Skull Kid manipulated the Gerudos into stealing the Zora eggs from Lulu and promised that they could find great treasure. After stealing the eggs, three of them wind up being dropped at Pinnacle Rock. Their leader, Aveil, sent out some pirates to retrieve them. Link once more was able to sneak around the Gerudos and battled some of them to retrieve the Zora eggs. A group of Gerudos tried sailing to the Great Bay Temple, but they were swept away by a small storm. The ending showed them to be alive (although it could have been a different boat of Gerudo), and the Gerudo pirates seemed to be continuing their operations.

Four Swords Adventures

The Gerudo tribe lived in a village within the Desert of Doubt and were very unlike the earlier portrayal. They were described as trustworthy and pure of heart, and they did not seem to work as thieves. These Gerudos considered the Pyramid to be sacred and protected it. It was implied that they also built the Desert Temple to keep people from reaching the Pyramid. Ganondorf was born to these Gerudos. Even though their laws said that the one male born to them would become "the mighty guardian of the Gerudo and the desert", the Gerudos seemed to be aware from the beginning that this Ganondorf was no good. He betrayed their law by leaving to visit the pyramid, so the Gerudos considered him to be a criminal and spoke bitterly about him. The Gerudo village had a female elder who told the Links about Ganondorf and allowed them to pass onward.

Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom

In Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the Gerudo lived in a small settlement in the middle of the Gerudo Desert called Gerudo Town. Within the game's backstory, the Gerudo were among the races who provided Champions to pilot one of the four Divine Beasts. The Divine Beast assigned to the Gerudo was the camel-like Vah Naboris, and a Gerudo chief named Urbosa was appointed as the Champion to pilot it. However, the Divine Beasts were taken by Ganon, which led to the deaths of Urbosa and the other champions.

In the present time, the Gerudo chief was a girl named Riju, who ascended to the position early following the death of her mother. The town had laws prohibited men from enter, and even the selling of men's clothing was forbidden. Link could only enter the town by disguising himself as a Gerudo. The only other male to make it into the town was a Goron, who himself was confused about how he made it in. The town contained a lively marketplace containing a variety of outdoor shops (as well as a hidden indoors shop which secretly sold male clothing), a bar and sand seal rentals. There was also a classroom where Gerudo women could receive education about men and how to connect with them, and there were also Gerudo warriors who trained at the barracks in service of Riju. Just outside of town, Gerudos also held sand seal races. The Gerudo clan faced trouble from both the activity of the corrupted Vah Naboris and a conflict with the Yiga Clan, who managed to steal a valuable heirloom called the Thunder Helm from the Gerudo. Link was able to retrieve the Thunder Helm and with it, Riju and Link took on Vah Naboris.

There were also several individual Gerudos who appeared in various other areas of Hyrule, due to the Gerudo tradition of exploring the world in search of men. Some worked as merchants or traded items with Link, and some sidequests also involved Link matchmaking Gerudo women with men.

In Tears of the Kingdom, the Gerudos were plagued by an unending sand shroud that covered their town and came with an invasion of Gibdos. As their prime weakness was Riju's unrefined lightning power, the Gerudo were ultimately forced to retreat into a shelter underneath the chief's palace when the Gibdos overran the village. Link later helped them to reclaim the village and drive back the Gibdos. Ultimately, the source of the sand shroud and the Gibdos was stopped at the Lightning Temple, and Riju became the new Sage of Lightning. Riju also officially cleared Link to be the only male allowed to enter Gerudo Village, so he no longer needed to visit in disguise.

Gerudo also played a role in the background of Tears of the Kingdom. During the era of Hyrule's founding, it was shown that Ganondorf commanded the Gerudo, and one of them was able to use a musical instrument to control a swarm of Modulga in a failed attack on Hyrule. However, another Gerudo became the ancient Sage of Lightning who opposed Ganondorf.

Unclear Appearances

The Gerudo are oddly absent from other games, aside from appearances by Ganondorf and Twinrova, vague references to Ganondorf's people and some other possible inferences. In Twilight Princess, the desert was called the Gerudo Desert, despite the distinct lack of a Gerudo presence. Telma's physical appearance was also similar to that of a Gerudo, but it was never confirmed if she was actually of Gerudo heritage. The Gerudo symbol is also worn by Ganondorf in most of his later appearances, and some enemies such as General Onox and Zant have versions of the symbol on their costumes, either due to their allegiance with Ganon or possible ties with the Gerudos.

In Other Zelda Games

In Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, Gerudos appear as NPCs who most commonly act as allies in battle, with both Urbosa and Riju acting as playable characters.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• In Cadence of Hyrule, the Gerudo appear at Gerudo Village, and one Gerudo also helps to fix the bridge at the Gerudo Ruins. The Gerudo are shown to have a teenage version of Ganondorf as their prince, and he is considered to be immature. The one named Gerudo to appear is Barriara, who guards the prince's home.

Trivia

• The phrasing "gerudo" had been used in the name of other creatures prior to Ocarina of Time, particularly in the Japanese names for the Geldman and Geldarm. This seems to indicate that within the context of this series, "gerudo" means some connection to the desert, as it is the one thing they all have in common.
• They are specifically referred to as a Hylian race within the character profiles in Tears of the Kingdom, along with the Sheikah.
• In Ocarina of Time, a Gerudo Mask is among the masks that Link can borrow from the Happy Mask shop. It fools a variety of weak-minded people who are either horrified or excited to meet a Gerudo, but the actual Gerudo are too sharp to fall for it.
• The Gerudo's symbol originally had a type of star and sickle design. However, Islamic groups complained due to its resemblance to a real life symbol, so it was changed to a new design in Majora's Mask and all future versions of Ocarina of Time.
• Ganondorf and Twinrova notably have long lifespans that have lasted centuries. It is uncertain how normal this is for the Gerudo people, as as those particular people were enhanced by the Triforce of Power and magical powers respectively.
• In Hyrule Warriors, no Gerudo appear aside from Ganondorf, although he does refer to himself as a Gerudo warrior at one point, and the desert stage is called the Gerudo Desert.
• According to Traysi in Breath of the Wild, the average Gerudo weighs as much as ten hydromelons.